Court squeezes seniors

Friday

Sep 28, 2007 at 2:00 AM

The push to upgrade court facilities around the state, an effort that is justified and long overdue, is about to claim a victim in Monticello. Seniors there are upset because part of the recreation and meeting areas they use is about to be taken over and remodeled as the Village Justice Court.

The push to upgrade court facilities around the state, an effort that is justified and long overdue, is about to claim a victim in Monticello. Seniors there are upset because part of the recreation and meeting areas they use is about to be taken over and remodeled as the Village Justice Court.

While this might seem like a very local and narrow concern, it is likely to be one we see repeated as many towns and villages respond to the pressure to improve courts.

The reaction in Monticello, as it is sure to be elsewhere, is that the village has no other choice. It has only so much room and too much to put in it, so something has to give. But that has the seniors asking a very good question. Why do they have to be the ones paying the price for a lack of effort and lack of planning through the years? There seems to be no good answer.

What the seniors are saying is reminiscent of those old plaques people used to buy and put up behind the counter: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

It is especially hard to justify this latest move when faced with the official explanation that there was no other space available. Anybody who has driven through Monticello lately knows that space is not in short supply.

What happened here, and what is likely to happen elsewhere, is about clout and not space. Courts have clout and seniors do not, especially when they are confronted with these decisions and have little choice other than complaining after the fact.

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